yyzAAguy

Hi,
The fine print on Amex' website may be out of date, or it may be accurate, or it may simply be wrong. What is MLL's policy for admitting Rouge passengers who present an American Express Aeroplan Plus Platinum card? This card guarantees access when travelling "Air Canada, Air Canada Express..." but doesn't specifically mention Rouge.

Please be sure of the answer.
Many thanks for being here!

OttawaMark

Ben, with the new carry on restriction/enforcement, will I still be able to bring my CPAP machine as a third and medically necessary bag (in addition to my roller bag and personal item) as I have done in days gone by? I had recently squeezed my CPAP into my roll on bag but it will now put the roll on bag weight over the limit so the CPAP will go back into it's own dedicated bag as it used to be many months ago.

theseatbelt

Hi there

I'd like to recommend that the bag sizers be designed using metal (or nice see through plastic) like the United sizers below so that wheels and other parts do not get stuck in between the metal bars. Also, make it easier to fit in and remove quickly, especially if it will be used often.



Also I recommend up to an extra 1 inch of wiggle-room / space for quick and easy removal and fitting.

Alternative, the option which I favour more is to have an "open" style sizer which allows quick measurement and no intrusion, and keep things professional and civilized, like this one:


If you don't see the green shaded area / white line, the bag doesn't go on

I'd be happy to measure my bag every time I fly (2x / week) with the above device.

Of course, would recommend a better design that conforms to AC's new image and branding standards.

FlyerGoldII

As you know, YYZ-YUL, YYZ-YUL, YYZ-YOW flights are considered Rapidair flights, for all benefits - regular and promotional.

This has not been the case with YOW-YUL. Will AC consider changing that?

PS-will AC make the new YYZ-Mont Tremblant flights officially Rapidair flights?

bingocallerb22

Thanks Ben. You are quite wrong if you think I based my observation on “only one or a handful of flights”. Nevertheless, a useful strategy I was taught was to repeat back to ensure proper communication. So what I hear you telling me is that my analysis is wrong and that the AC Network Planning team has more correctly determined that YYZLIM is a leisure route. That explains my initial confusion: vacation vs leisure. Summary: rouge is for leisure routes and AC believes YYZLIM is primarily a leisure route. Do I understand what you are saying correctly?

I will admit I didn't really understand the part about the experts knowing the motivation of flyers by using fare sales history. Could you explain better your phrase “types of fares we were getting weren't in line with other flights to Central/South America that may cater to a more varied customer base”? More varied than business vs leisure?

Supplemental question: To clarify things, what is your operational definition of a “leisure” route? Thinking about it, that may be a hard question for you to answer. Is it as simple as, if you not flying for business then you are flying for leisure? Is so, are not almost all your international flights leisure and hence rouge-able?

itineranthistorian

Ben(s),

I'm curious if there will ever be a moment where AC considers joining Deutsche Bahn's Rail&Fly Program (http://www.bahn.de/p_en/view/tourism...-and-fly.shtml), whereby people catching an international flight within Germany, and certain cities in Austria and Holland, on an eligible carrier can purchase a train ticket to/from their flight for 29€.

Considering AC's European Flight Pass destinations, this would be of HUGE advantage to the many of us who fly into MUC or FRA and then travel onwards to other cities within Germany to which AC does not have a direct flights from Canada (Berlin, Cologne, Stuttgart come to mind as major concentration points).

Several US carriers have this option, and thusly I was wondering / asking if this might also be a possibility for AC? Considering the density of the German train network, it could be a huge asset (and make a FP purchase all the more valuable, since it would exponentially expand the number of final destinations, at least within the middle of Europe).

Ben Lipsey

I'm not going to argue with you on the decision to use rouge vs mainline on YYZLIM, or any other route for that matter. I don't work in Planning, but my colleagues that do are very talented and determine which routes are more viable as one vs the other.

Regarding your supplemental question, I would say that leisure routes are primarily high traffic/low yield and cater to a more leisure customer. I'm sure that some people may fly to CUN or PVR for business, for example, but I would imagine the majority of travellers are going there for vacation. Take from that what you will.

Ben Lipsey

This is something I've heard talk about actually, but I can't say at what stage in the negotiations process we are. Suffice to say it is on our radar!

Andrew Yiu

No change to that. As long as the medical device belongs to you, we will accept it in addition to the carry on allowance.

Andrew Yiu

Different aircraft types so you can't have something that specific for Economy Class. Many customers don't like to read signs when they're at the gate (we have the eligibility listed out for the Priority Boarding lane but it doesn't stop most people from trying to get into it) - hence the decision to go to zonal boarding.

Andrew Yiu

Target by the end of the year but as most know with IT work, there's never a sure thing. If not by end of year then Q1 2015 for sure.

OttawaMark

Thanks Andrew.

Is there a weight restriction to a medical bag? Clearly trying to pass off a 45 lb bag as a CPAP medical device is not reasonable but I sometimes travel with 0.5L-1L of distilled water (depends on destination and availability of distilled water there) for my CPAP and I can see weight becoming questionable if there are hard limits.

InTheAirGuy

Holy cow, Andrew, you are back? 3 posts in a row?

I guess the workload on this thread is getting a bit heavy? Nice to see a helping hand....

uni3052

I am based in YUL and often I connect through YYZ. My issue with going through this airport is when I return home from an international flight: you have to go through passport control, pick up bags, then customs and then re-check bags and finally go through security to catch the lest leg of my trip.

It is this last step that I wonder if it could be improved, what about a faster access from the re-check bags point to the boarding gates? (Also faster delivery of bags won't hurt)

Last week Coming back to YUL from CPH, I only had 1:15 to catch my plane in YYZ. I have Nexus so I skipped the line at passport control. My bag was also tag as priority, so it came relatively fast, but then it was a race against the clock to go through customs, drop my bag, go upstairs and pass security and then a last sprint to get to the gate. I barely made it.

Ben Lipsey

Rouge is treated as another AC-branded carrier in this case, so you'd be fine with any Amex that would normally grant you access to the lounges. I'm guessing it's just outdated literature from Amex.